Cadmium Concentrations in Recent Snow and Firn Layers in the Canadian Arctic

• Main Authors: Toxicology, J. O. Nriagu, G. S. Lawson, D. J. Gregor
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1993
• Subjects: The Agassiz Ice Cap is located in north-central Ellesmere Island; Northwest; Agassiz Ice Cap; Arctic; Canada; Ellesmere Island; Greenland; Ice cap
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.514.6982; http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/47997/128_2004_Article_BF00195499.pdf;jsessionid=9991CA8EA29C5188D5DC2F03D455803A?sequence=1

It is becoming increasingly evident that long-range transported pollutants can have a devastating effect on the fragile ecosystems ofthe Canadian Arctic region (Muir et al., 1992; Thomas et al., 1992). The phenomenon f Arctic haze which prevails during the late winter-early spring period results in the flux of elevated quantities of toxic pollutants to the region (Nriagu et al., 1991; Landsberger tal., 1992). Although there have been studies of the atmospheric concentrations of pollutants in the region (Gregor, 1991; Barrie et al., 1992), there are no reliable measurements of the accumulation ftrace metals in the snow and ice layers. Analysis of dated snow and ice layers in Greenland has furnished a wealth of information on the history of global air pollution with toxic metals (Wolff and Peel, 1988). Similar studies in Arctic Canada should provide additional insights into the hemispheric transport processes and the sources of trace metals in this polar region. This report presents the first set of data on the concentrations of cadmium in recent snow layers (deposited during the past 7 years) of the Agassiz Ice Cap, Ellesmere Island, Canada. The data were obtained using an ultra-clean sampling and analysis procedures.